Sources inside The Wolverine camp tell ComingSoon.net/SuperHeroHype that casting is starting to come together opposite Hugh Jackman in the 2013 summer tentpole movie. And we're psyched to hear that Fox is casting real Japanese actors in some of the key roles in the story based in Japan. The studio would not discuss details of these roles and continues to keep the plot under wraps, but it did confirm the following actors were cast and that more roles are expected to be filled shortly:

Hiroyuki Sanada ("Lost," Rush Hour 3, The Last Samurai) is set to play Shingen; veteran actor Hal Yamanouchi (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Push, Sinbad of the Seven Seas) plays Yashida; and new discoveries Tao Okamoto and Rila Fukushima will star as Mariko and Yukio, respectively. While none of these actors have much of a following outside of Japan, the fact that a major studio is trying to keep some authenticity in a film of this magnitude is very encouraging.

The one nugget of a storyline the studio has released is that the film is inspired by the celebrated Marvel comic book arc by Chris Claremont & Frank Miller and that The Wolverine finds Logan, the eternal warrior and outsider, in Japan. There, samurai steel clashes with adamantium claws as Logan confronts a mysterious figure from his past in an epic battle that will leave him forever changed.

And contrary to previous reports, while much of the stage work will take place in Australia, a chunk of the shoot is scheduled to happen on locations around Japan. The film is set for a July 26, 2013 release with James Mangold directing. "X-Men" mainstay Lauren Shuler Donner will produce with Hugh Jackman, John Palermo and Hutch Parker.

Following this morning's exclusive casting news on the project, ComingSoon.net/SuperHeroHype has learned, through sources close to the actor, that Will Yun Lee is joining that cast of James Mangold's The Wolverine as Kenuichio Harada, the man who, in the comics, is otherwise known as the Silver Samurai.

Today has been a big day of casting for 20th Century Fox's The Wolverine, directed by James Mangold, and it doesn't end there as The Hollywood Reporter has added Brian Tee of the television show "Grimm" to the mix, playing Noburo Mori, a corrupt minister of justice who is slated to marry Mariko Yashida, the daughter of a Yakuza crime lord who falls for Logan when he comes to Japan.

Although the movie is said to be based on the 1982 limited series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, Noburo Mori is not a primary character of the story so this may be a smaller role.

Casting news has been pretty huge for The Wolverine lately. In less than a week we've reported on six different cast additions, and apparently there are no signs of slowing down. Twitch is reporting that Jessica Biel has been offered the role of 'Viper' in the upcoming film. No official word on this one yet, so treat it as a rumor for now.

The film is inspired by the celebrated Marvel comic book arc by Chris Claremont & Frank Miller and finds Logan, the eternal warrior and outsider, in Japan. There, samurai steel clashes with adamantium claws as Logan confronts a mysterious figure from his past in an epic battle that will leave him forever changed.

Australia's The Leader posted the following about a set that is being built for The Wolverine:

THE star himself might not be on the scene, but one of the sets for Hugh Jackman's next Wolverine flick is already under construction at Kurnell.

Neighbouring residents were notified by the production company, 20th Century Fox, that Bonna Point Reserve would be temporarily occupied to make way for a World War II prisoner of war camp set (pictured under construction).

Scenes for the film will be shot in two days between Monday, July 30 and Thursday, August 2.

In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, Hugh Jackman also talked briefly about shooting a lot of the film in Australia:

"It speaks to the incredible craftsmanship [here] that we can make so much of Japan - feudal Japan, urban Japan, sets - all here on our soundstages in Australia," he said.

Take a look at a pretty large selection of concept art and sets from the upcoming film The Wolverine, thanks to if.com.au.

Possible spoilers ahead...

What you'll see at that link are a series of photos detailing the building of one of the sets along with some concept art. We do know that some of the film will take place in WWII POW camp (read more about that here).

From the look of one of those pictures, it seems Logan will be imprisoned at the bottom of a well and he'll be getting a front row seat to the atomic bomb.

The Wolverine has just started filming for a release on July 26, 2013.

Production has officially begun on James Mangold's The Wolverine, which features the return of Hugh Jackman in the iconic Marvel Comics role.

"We're on day 1 of shooting," the actor tweeted this morning. "Wolverine is back... feel so pumped about this one... never felt so ready!!!! will keep y'all posted!!!"

Australia's 7News, meanwhile, managed to catch a sneak peek at the day's shoot in Kurnell and you can check out their footage in the player below.

Also starring Will Yun Lee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima and Brian Tee, The Wolverine sees Logan beginning a forbidden romance with a Japanese woman whose hand in marriage is, unfortunately, promised to another man. Since Logan won't take "no" for an answer, it puts him into battle with her father and her samurai-sword-wielding brothers and Silver Samurai.

The Wolverine just started filming in Austrailia this week and Hugh Jackman has taken the time to show his appreciation to the people of Australia. You can check out photos of Jackman in character at The Leader.

Jackman personally met with the Mayor of Sutherland Shire where the film is currently shooting, saying: "It’s a beautiful spot here. This is the first time I’ve been to Kurnell and the location is great."

According to the article, the film will continue shooting in Sydney for a while before moving to Japan where they will wrap filming in November.

Also starring Will Yun Lee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima and Brian Tee, The Wolverine sees Logan beginning a forbidden romance with a Japanese woman whose hand in marriage is, unfortunately, promised to another man. Since Logan won't take "no" for an answer, it puts him into battle with her father and her samurai-sword-wielding brothers and Silver Samurai.

Yesterday we had a look at WWII era Wolverine on the set and today, Hugh Jackman has already aged some. In just a few short hours, the cast and crew of The Wolverine went from filming a set that doubled as a Japanese POW camp to one that rivals the outskirts of Canada. You can see a ton of different photos from the outdoor set via The Daily Mail, The Wollondilly Advertiser, and the Fairfax Community Newspapers' photographic Twitter account.

Also starring Will Yun Lee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima and Brian Tee, The Wolverine sees Logan beginning a forbidden romance with a Japanese woman whose hand in marriage is, unfortunately, promised to another man. Since Logan won't take "no" for an answer, it puts him into battle with her father and her samurai-sword-wielding brothers and Silver Samurai.

Based on the celebrated comic book arc, The Wolverine finds Logan, the eternal warrior and outsider, in Japan. There, samurai steel will clash with adamantium claw as Logan confronts a mysterious figure from his past in an epic battle that will leave him forever changed.

Even more set photos from The Wolverine have popped up today, this time featuring Svetlana Khodchenkova in costume as Viper. In the film, much like the comics, Viper will be a former friend turned enemy of Wolverine's (he seems to have a knack for doing that). You can check out the photos by clicking here!

Based on the celebrated comic book arc, The Wolverine finds Logan, the eternal warrior and outsider, in Japan. There, samurai steel will clash with adamantium claw as Logan confronts a mysterious figure from his past in an epic battle that will leave him forever changed.

When X-Men Origins: Wolverine hit theaters, many fans didn't care for it and part of that reason would be how it didn't match up with the timeline of the other films. People pointed out this problem even more with the prequel X-Men: First Class. With the upcoming film The Wolverine being about Logan's time in Japan, coupled with the 'after credits sequence' of Logan in Japan from the previous film, we've all assumed that this next entry will be a follow-up that leads into Bryan Singer's X-Men. We were wrong. If you don't want to know anything else, don't read further due to potential spoilers.

In an interview with Empire, director James Mangold said that this film is not a prequel at all. "Where this film sits in the universe of the films is after them all," revealed Mangold. "Jean Grey is gone, most of the X-Men are disbanded or gone, so there’s a tremendous sense of isolation for him."

Now, there will be prequel elements in the film as we already know some scenes will take place in World War II, but after that it will presumably jump to the present day.

"That’s something that for me was very important, that I land in a very specific place in his timeline," says Mangold. "I wanted to be able to tell the story without the burden of handing it off to a film that already exists and having to conform to it. The ideas of immortality reign very heavily in this story and the burden of immortality weighs heavily on Logan. For me that’s such an interesting part of Logan’s character that is nearly impossible to explore if you have a kind of league or team movie."

And before you start to think of this movie as an action adventure, Mangold gave his two cents on its categorization: "Japanese noir picture with tentpole action in it."